332 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



OUTOBEE 20, 1906. 



GLEANINGS. 



Friday, November 9 (His Majesty's birthday) will be 

 observed in Barbados as Arbor Day. Suitable plants can be 

 obtained on application to Mr. J. R. Bovell, who will furnish 

 information as to the manner in which they should be planted. 



Writing to the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, 

 the Commissioner of the Turks and Caicos Islands says : 

 ' Salt raking has become general, and more has been gathered 

 in Grand Turk since .July 1 than in the previous thirty 

 months.' 



The St. Lucia Agricultural Society is desirous of 

 obtaining three young he-goats, the progeny of ' Bruce.' 

 Any one having such animals for sale is invited to communi- 

 cate full particulars, in writing, to the Head Office, Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, Barbados. 



The manufacture of lime juice in .Jamaica is capable of 

 great exijansion ; hardly any place in the world is so well 

 adapted as this for the growth and manufacture of this 

 product. The value of the exports of lime juice in IQC-t-.o 

 was £3,897. {Annual Colonial Report.) 



Coffee and rubber represent some 60 to 80 per cent, of the 

 export returns of 1904 and 1905, and are the staple articles 

 of Brazilian exports. Three kinds of rubber are exported, 

 viz., Mangabeira {Hancomia speciosa), Manitoba or Ceara 

 (Manihot Glaziovii), and Seringa or Para {HevM, lirasiliensis). 



Among samples of gums examined at the Indian Museum 

 during the year 1905-6 was one obtained from the jack- 

 fruit (A) tocarpus integrifolia). This gum is very resinous ; 

 the sample contained only "rl per cent, of caoutchouc and 

 90'3 per cent, of resins. 



The United States Consul at Belize reports that there is 

 a likelihood of a considerable expansion in the timber trade 

 of British Honduras. Hitherto, there has been little oppor- 

 tunity for shipping mahogany and cedar to the United States. 

 A new line of steamers has started to run direct to New 

 Orleans from Belize. 



In a review of the movement being made by German 

 manufacturers of cotton goods, with assistance from the 

 Government, in growing cotton in the colonie.s of the empire, 

 the United States Consul at Zittan states that cotton cultiva- 

 tion in Togo has developed in normal proportions. In 

 addition to 20,200 K>. of Togo seed, there were distributed 

 131,300 K). of Egyptian seed. 



In order to popularize the banana, costers' i)arades are 

 organized by Messrs. Elders &. Fytfes, Ltd., in England. 

 An illustration in the West India Committee Circular depicts 

 the prize winners at such a gathering ; prizes are awarded for 

 general cleanliness and decorative effect. 



Next to sugar, tobacco is the most important plantation 

 industry in Java. The area planted is 15,016 acres, and the 

 value of the exports last year was .£2,279,661. The tobacco 

 of Java is not equal in ijuality to the Sumatra leaf, the 

 choicest of which, for cigar wrappers, has been sold up to 

 5s. \Qd. per ib. 



The Consul-General of Panama reports that the republic 

 has contracted with Dr. D. H. Lupi, a well-known Venezuelan 

 agriculturist, to establish a school of agriculture in Panama. 

 Before opening the school. Dr. Lupi will travel throughout 

 the republic and report his agricultural investigations to the 

 Government. {U. S. Monthlij Consular Reports,.) 



The London Evening News states that the eruption of 

 Vesuvius has spoiled the lemon crop in the Naples district, 

 with the result that prices at Covent Garden for boxes of 

 420 have advanced from 30.s. to 50s. It is pointed out that 

 fruit dealers have an excellent substitute in the West Indian 

 lime, which is claimed to be infinitely sui)enor. ' A box of 

 220 is obtainable in London for 7s. or 7s. 6(i.' 



Tea to the value of £60 was exported from .lamaica 

 during the year 1904-5. The tea plantation in St. Ann, 

 belonging to the Hon. the Custos, has proved successful, and 

 as long as the colony charges an import duty of Is. per lb. 

 and imports nearly 60,000 K). a year from abroad, the local 

 market must be so good as almost to preclude exportation. 

 {Annual Colonial Report.) 



According to the United States Consul-General at 

 Frankfurt, the total European production of honey is 

 estimated to amount to 80,000 tons, at an approximate value 

 of ten to eleven millions of dollars. Germany leads in the 

 production of honey among European countries with 

 1,910,000 bee-hives, furnishing 20,000 tons of honey. ' The 

 news from America that special institutions have recently 

 been established in the United States to raise queen bees for 

 .sale will be of interest to bee keepers.' 



In his report on the Essequebo and Pomeroon Rivers 

 district of British Guiana for 1905-6, the Commissioner 

 mentions that ' tobacco, said by experts to be superior to that 

 grown on the coast lands, can also be grown, and a consider- 

 able quantity is grown and cured by the Brazilians on the 

 Takutu and taken by them to Boa Vista and Manaos, where 

 it connnands a ready sale at remunerative prices. The tobacco 

 is cured and put up in a very primitive way, and, no doubt, 

 if modern methods were used, it would be still more 

 appreciated.' 



An interesting experiment in connexion with agricultural 

 instruction was recently made in the United States. This 

 took the form of a special train, which consisted, according to 

 the Ejcperiment Station Record, 'of four cars, which were 

 equipped with apparatus and exhibits illustrative of farm 

 crops, fertilizers, animal husbandry, dairying, horticulture, 

 entomology, and forestry. Forty-minute stops were made at 

 stations along the route, the first twenty minutes being 

 devoted to two terse ten-minute talks in each car, followed 

 minutes for viewing the exhibits and asking 

 The undertaking was pronounced a great success 

 to finish. It is estimated that about 25,000 



by twenty 



questions. 

 from start 



people visited the train during its course.' 



